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It is time to begin thinking of NEXT YEAR! 😍

Now is a GREAT TIME in the bird room, as I am watching the youngsters and will soon begin to make my plans for next year's breeding season!  I am also receiving messages from people looking for a singing companion or new birds for their breeding plans next year.  All inquiries about new birds are welcome.  Stay updated about available birds by following my Facebook page or visiting Montana Canaries where I will post photos of all individual birds beginning the first week in September!

2021 has been a GREAT year, so far!

 I have not taped any videos from the birdroom in 2021, and these blog posts have been few and far between.  I post a few things to my Facebook page, so make sure you follow Savoy Singers Aviary on Facebook.  :)

I am on the down hill side of breeding season, with GREAT results so far.  There are three favorite hens that have produced chicks that are just what I wanted!  Two new hens have not given me a single egg, even though they seem to love building nests.  The remaining twenty hens did well.  Nearly every hen laid a good number of eggs, with nearly a 100% hatch... I lost only one little chick when he was tossed out of the nest.

Another chick faded away after being rejected by his parents.  He was eating on his own, but not enough I suppose.  I tried hand feeding, but he was not willing.  I forced in a little formula, but he only lasted a couple of days.

Two casualties and 73 lively and healthy chicks makes me happy!  My final number may not reach 100, but anything over 65 gives me enough to chose ones to keep for next year!

The weaning flights are filling up.  Most of the hens have either hatched or will soon hatch their second nests.  It won't be long and I will be sorting and evaluating the youngsters.

Hope everyone has some promising youngsters!  I'll be back with a video soon!

Breeding Season 2021 is Well Underway!

There are nests of little chicks hatching all around the bird room!  So far, most pairs are producing fertile eggs, hatching normally, and seem to be feeding well. 
I set a small group of hens in early April and a second larger group the very end of April, which are hatching this week.  A third group of hens are due to hatch next week.  A fourth small number of hens are building nests, or beginning to lay eggs.

For 2021, I have roughly 31 hens, most of which are set up as pairs with a male.  Most are birds of my own raising.  There are 13 American Singer pairs, 3 Fife hens, 6 pairs of the Thompson line of yellows, 1 pair of bronzes, and 8 agate or opal hens. 

For the past 8 months I have worried about some way to keep my total numbers down.  I had too many birds last year... too many pairs, and too many youngsters.  Oh, I had FUN!  And I raised so many really NICE youngsters!

I proved several theories about the various families in my bird room.  Plus, I met some wonderful people as I sold my extras last fall and this spring!  But, I did not have as much time for leisurely observation of the birds, seated in a rocker in the bird room, and sipping a coffee drink!  

My goal is to maintain approx 20 pairs, with only a little wiggle room for extras!  :)
At the moment, I have no idea how to drop approximately one third of my plans!

But that problem can be postponed until later this summer!  :)

Lessons Learned In 2020

2020 was a good year in my bird room.  

1)  I increased the number of birds in my oldest two American Singer families.

2)  This was the second year for a new bloodline, and it gave me several good birds.

3)  The newest family line is still in testing stage, but no terrible trait has appeared so far.

4)  I expanded into a second canary area in another room... so I was able to separate the hens to another room when I wanted breeding season to end.

2020 also had some lessons to learn.

1) For the first round of all hens, I left each egg under the hen as she laid them.  Some breeders I trust do this with success.   I found it depended upon the ability of the hen.... good mothers had no problem with a late hatching chick.  First time mothers, and nervous mothers, didn't do as well, and I shuffled hatchlings around to foster parents. 
>>> I will take out each egg as laid and put in a small numbered cup, as I have done in years past.
***  I did try Julian's (of Julian's Bird Room) Top Tip ( in episode 5 of Season Three of The Canary Room) to take the nest out after the hen laid each day's egg, hang it on the outside of the cage, and return later in the day.  I will do that again.  HOWEVER, be careful not to knock off the nests!  I would not recommend it in small bird rooms or if someone is as clumsy as I am!

2)  There were two pairs in the same family line of Opals/Agates that did not produce any keeping youngsters.  Feather quality was off, size and shape were poor.  I had no idea they would produce such inferior kids.  They were culled late summer... and that is the end of that family.  

3)  I did lose my two oldest American Singers .... but I was consoled by the fact I do have many nice sons and daughters.

4)  I did have some thin shelled eggs, so will be adding a calcium supplement to my schedule.

5) I am questioning my use of bread crumbs in my softfood mix... definitely will not be using as much, and not until they are weaned.  I think I will be keeping a higher level of protein in the soft food for the youngsters all the way from hatch to end of molting. 
>>>  The frequency or time of day that I fed eggfood may have been a contributing factor, but I think I did everything okay, even if not on a schedule.  Somehow, I wasn't happy with the final size/shape of some of the very last hatches. This will be an area for more notes and thinking over this coming year.  I have notes on overuse of bread crumbs in my journals from years past.

6)  I am also questioning the correct use of artificial /LED lighting.  As well as the newest sets of cages.  The cages are enclosed except on the front and each section can be lit with LED cage lights. 
>>>  I have not proven this theory yet, but I feel the bright light within the cage, resulting in a darker world on the outside .... led to birds not as aware of me/what I did outside their cages.  Results were that the youngsters were not as tame, friendly and calm as the youngsters who grew up in a more open wire-only cage.

Here are several photos of my bird room and the new expanded area with the new enclosed cage  units... taken as I transitioned from 'After Molt Rest' to 'Winter', with cages for sale birds, the hens together in some type of flight, and males in individual cages so I can make notes on their behavior.

My Pairings --- Past and Future:

I did alot of reading and thinking about my Breeding Goals, for both now and in future years.
I will write about this in a post in the very near future, with photos of my most promising keeping youngsters! 

I have updated the Canary Links page... there are now over 140 web links to good, interesting, and useful information.

Shipping is over for 2020!

More bird photos will be listed in Summer 2021!

Beginning in July 2021, my extra canaries will be listed on:
montanacanaries.blogspot.com

Canary Games Begin -- Look at these prizes! (CLOSED)

UPDATED 1/4/2021:
We are planning Summer 2021 Canary Games.... stay in touch with my Facebook Page!

November 3rd is the day we begin out November 2020 Canary Games!  There will be four games, each open for play for one week, ending on Mondays before midnight, Montana USA time.  There are actually 6 prizes... and they are GREAT!  Join the fun by visiting my Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/SavoySingersAviary/.

Read our RULES and HOW TO PLAY!